Insulated pole



Jan. 12, 1954 R. c. PARKES INSULATED POLE Filed Oct. 9, 1950 IN V EN TOR. d zwas Patented Jan. 12, 1954 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE INSULATED POLE Ralph C. Parkes, Glenside, Pa.

Application October 9, 1950, Serial No. 189,113 Claims, (01. 34--240) My invention relates to a pole. of the type used for supporting sheet, or other, material While such material is being dried under relatively high temperatures.

One object of the invention is to produce an improved pole of the type set forth.

p A further object is to produce an improved pole which is relatively light, durable and inexpensive and one which can be subjected to relatively high temperatures.

.A still further object is to devise an improved method for producing the pole of myinvention.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as disclosed in the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an expansible pole embodying my invention, the same being shown in retracted position.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 on Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 33 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 4-4 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a difierent embodiment of'the invention.

The pole of the present invention may be made,

in one piece or it may be made of two ormore sections which are longitudinally movable relative to each other so as to produce a sectional, expansible pole such as the poles shown in the U. S. Patent No. 1,997,696 issued to B. A. Parkes on April 16, 1935, and entitled Drying Machine, and U. S. Patent No. 2,398,190 issued to me on April 9, 1946, and entitled Expansible Pole Construction for Drying Machines. The present disclosure is limited to the improved structure and assembly of the pole itself and to the method of. making the same, and reference may be had to.

the patents mentioned as to the manner in which the poles are supported and propelled in the drying chamber'as Well as to the manner in which the poles are extended and retracted.

When it is desired to form a sectional expansible pole, I may use two or more sections slidably associated together. As illustrated, I may use two end sections A and one or more intermediatesem tions B, each of which sections is formed of a pipe, The. pipe l0 and a heat-insulating covering l2. I0 is preferably in the form of an extrusion and is preferably made of a light metal having the desired rigidity such as aluminum, or magnesium.

aluminum alloy, or the like. If desired, the pipe l0 can be formed of some available high temperatime synthetic material which has the necessary tensible strength and rigidity.

The poles under consideration are often ten or twelve feet, more or less, in length and it is therefore necessary to prevent sagging due to the weight of the pole and the weight of the material suspended therefrom. It is also necessary to insure proper and reasonably permanent adhesion of the heat insulating covering to the core of the pole. Therefore, and as shown in Figs. 1' to 3, the pipe I0 is provided with longitudinally. extending, T-shaped ribs M which, Whenthe middle of the pole is subjected to downward pressure, will be in compression and will reinforce the pole against sagging. The ribs l4 also serve to anchor the covering I2 to the core. Instead of ribs I 4, retaining members 16, as shownin Fig. 5, or any other equivalent members may be used.

The covering may be made of anyone of a number of presently available heat insulating ma-- terials which'has a low specific heat and a low coefficient of heat conductivity such as mineral Wool, or other like material. One convenient way of making a pole section is to mold the covering material onto the pipe l0, dry it, and ma-, chine it to a true and smooth cylindrical form. The covering is then treated with a high-temper-' ature-setting resin or other similar synthetic material, and subjected to heat of an order to cure or set. the said material. It is to be noted that the covering material is appliedto the pipe ID in such a manner that it extends well beyond responding tubular supportingv sections 18A and I813 which have a slide fit within pipe Ill and.

which are staked to pipe ID as atZB. Internal expansion staking tools are, available on the market and, because the particular staking tool forms. no part of the invention and because the parts.

referred to may be otherwise secured against relative longitudinal movement, the staking tool.

is not shown .nor described.

The supporting section IBB is longer than the corresponding pole section B so as to provide end. portions 22 which are adapted to engage the juxe taposed ends of pipe sections ll) of pole sections A, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The outer ends of the pipe sections ill of pole sections A are flared as at 26 so as to engage, and firmly retain, a gear 28 by means of which the pole is rotated, continuously; or intermittently, by the arrangement shown in either of the patents referred to or by equivalent means.

The structure thus far described is carried by an inner core 30 the ends of which project beyond the outer ends of the pole, when the pole is in its expanded condition, and are adapted to be connected by pins, not shown, which are carried by a sprocket chain or the like, not shown, and which engage holes 32 in the ends of core 38. For further information as to how this may be accomplished, and how thepoles are propelled through a drying chamber reference may be had to the patents above mentioned.

The pole of this invention may be ten or twelve feet long, more or less, and a relatively slight sagging of the relatively long intermediate section B may cause the ends of the core of this section to bind, or rub against the corresponding portions of core 30. In order to assist the ribs Hi, or their equivalent, in resisting sagging of the middle of the pole and thus insure free rotation of the pipe 10 relative to core 30, and in order to prevent movement of intermediate tube section B axially of core 30, I provide two split, spring rings 3%, which are rotatably carried by core 3 3, and which frictionally engage the interiors of the ends 22' of supporting tubular section I83. While only two rings are shown, one near each end of the pole, it is to be understood that additional rings near the center of intermediate section B can be used if needed. But, since this is merely a mat-.

ter of duplication of the structure disclosed, it is deemed unnecessary to show or describe the same in detail.

As shown in Fig. 2, the core 30 is hollow and is divided into one intermediate section 36B which corresponds to pole section B and two end sec-v tions 30A which correspond to pole sections A,

and the adjacent ends of the core sections 39A and 30B are interconnected by rods 4% which enter the juxtaposed ends of core sections 30A and 30B and which are held in position by rivets 42, or. Th split, spring rings 34 are freely ro-.

the like. tatable on rods 40 and the juxtaposed edges 44 of core sections 30A and 30B are spaced apart-a distance slightly greater than the width of rings 34. Because the cross section of rods 40 which support the rings 34 is smaller than the cross section of core 30, the thickness of rings 34 can be much greater than would be otherwise possible without increasing the cross section of core Sll.

For example, if core 30 is made of uniform diameter throughout and if the split rings 34 were mounted directly on core 30, the cross section thickness of the rings can only be equal to the clearance between core 30 and tube 18 and this may or may not give the necessary support. Also, in the absence of edges 44 it would be necessary to provide other means for securing the split ring in position. But, by using reduced diameter rods Iii, as shown, the thickness of the split rings can be made equal to the clearance between the reduced diameters of rods 40 and the interior of supporting tube H3. The core 30 is made hollow,

as shown, only so as to produce a light construetion. Where the weight is not critical, core 30 can be a solid rod and can be machined down to produce reduced diameter portions for supporting rings 34 and to provide edges 44.

For convenience of manufacture, the extruded pipe 10 is made in semi-cylindrical parts C and D, instead of in one piece, and the parts C and D are provided with complementary dove-tail tongues and dove-tail grooves as at 46. I To assemble a pole section, the parts 0 and D are held end-to-end and the tongues on the opposite edges of the parts are slid into the corresponding opposite grooves.

In the interest of strength, the edges of the semi-cylindrical parts C and D are provided with specially formed ribs E and F and the tongues and grooves are formed the opposite abutting surfaces of the diametrically opposed ribs, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the combined thickness of the ribs E and F i about double that of the ribs i4 and that they combine to form a T-shaped rib similar to the T-shaped ribs M.

While the engagement of the dove-tail tongues and grooves is probably enough to hold the parts C and D together for most purposes, I prefer to use C-shaped clamps 48 which are slipped over abutting ribs E, F at suitable intervals. The clamps 48 fit tightly over the heads of the ribs so as to hold ribs E and F and, hence, the parts C and D of the pole section firmly together. If desired the meeting edges of these parts may also be welded together in any desired manner but preferably at the point of engagement of the clamps 48 with the rib E and F so as to prevent slippage of the clamps.

While I have described the invention as applied to pole adapted for use in a drying chamberLit' is to be understood that the invention is applicable to poles or rolls of any size, whether such rolls are movable or stationary, and whether they only support or both support and propel the material to be dried. Therefore, in the appended claims, pole is to be broadly construed. V

Likewise, in the appended claims heat-insulat ing covering is to be interpreted as including any material which has a low coefilcient of heat con-. ductivity.

What I claim is:

l. A pole including a central, cylindrical core, spaced portions of said core being of a smaller cross section than the remainder of said core, split spring rings freely rotatable on said spaced portions, the inside diameter of said rings, when uncompressed, being smaller than the diameter of adjacent portions of said core and the outside diameter of said rings, when compressed, being larger than the diameter of said adjacent portions of said core, and a pipe carried by said rings.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said pipe is made of a plurality of sections, and a second pipe also made of a plurality of sections which are carried by corresponding sections of said first mentioned pipe, and meansfor rigidlysecuring the corresponding sections of said pipes to each other.

3. The structure recited in claim 2 and a heat insulation covering for said second pipe.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said pipe is formed of at least two externalh exteriors of said abutting edges of said sections.

5. The structure recited in claim 4 inwhich References Cited in the file of this patent RALPH C. PARKES.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Denegre Apr. 1, 1902 Knott Feb. 24, 1914 10 Cottam et a1 Nov. 13, 1923 Wirth June 24, 1930 Number Name Date Parkes Apr. 21, 1931 Everett Mar. 29, 1932 Lowe Dec. 13, 1932 Herold June 19, 1934 Parkes Apr. 16, 1935 Allsop et a1 May 11, 1937 Klefiel May 27, 1941' Hansen Nov. 18, 1941 Parkes Apr. 9, 1946 

